These mutual funds gave the best returns in February

Mutual fund managers have been investing aggressively in stock market since August 2016. Since then, they have invested over Rs 46,000 crore.

It is a general perception that with the slowdown in equity markets, the investors tend to pull out money to be on a safer side. But, this time, the outlook of retail investors looked very positive as they viewed this weakness in equity markets as an opportunity, said Head of Mutual Fund Research FundsIndia.com Vidya Bala.

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Moreover, when on November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, mutual fund advisors were expecting a greater shift from physical assets (cash, real estate, gold) to financial assets (MF, deposits, others), in the medium term.

Top 10 fund performers in February:

According to the data shared by Morningstar Investment Adviser, the outperformance in the Mutual Fund industry was led by small and mid-caps stocks. 

The top performing funds from the small and mid-cap space were Birla Sun Life Pure Value, ICICI Prudential Midcap and Principal Index Fund - Midcap.The top funds which contributed the list were SBI IT Fund with a return of 7.30% followed by ICICI Prudential Technology Fund (7.14%).

Speaking to Zeebiz, Kaustubh Belapurkar, Director Manager Research, Morningstar investment, said, "Within the toppers, funds that have higher weightage to the Financial and Technology stocks outperformed the others. Notably, four of the ten top funds are from Financial Services Sector focused category. The sector got the major boost from the union budget that announced a lower fiscal deficit target of 3.2% of GDP, higher infrastructure spending and affordable housing."

On the basis of highest exposure, the funds that have been the top performers over one month period were Tata Banking & Financial Services, UTI Banking Sector, Reliance Banking and ICICI Prudential Banking & Financial Services.In February, technology sector gained momentum as it became the major contributor on the back of buybacks activity. The sector had delivered negative returns in the month of January but bounced back the next month. 

IT companies like Tata Consultancy and Infosys grabbed the eyes of investors due to their share buyback plans. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) had announced that it would buy back shares worth Rs.16,000 crore at a fixed price of Rs.2,850 each which resulted in increase in the stock price. 

Later, Infosys had also announced that it has sought shareholders' approval to change the company's Articles of Association, which includes provision for share buyback.

Disclaimer: This story is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as an investment advice.